As it expands, Firestone keeps a cool head

Firestone Walker Brewing Company brewed its first batch of beer using re-engineered wine-making equipment in 1996. The fledgling operation was housed on the Firestone Vineyard estate in the Santa Ynez Valley, but it expanded quickly.FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. brewed its first batch of beer using re-engineered winemaking equipment in 1996. The fledgling operation was housed on the Firestone Vineyard estate in the Santa Ynez Valley, but it expanded quickly. By 2001 its owners, Adam Firestone and David Walker, relocated to Paso Robles in an old brewery near the 101 freeway. It's now producing between 110,000 and 120,000 barrels a year, and Firestone's draft beers can be found in beer lovers' bars all over the country. Its popular blonde ale, 805, is available in bottles, as are several other Firestone beers; its hoppy pilsner, Pivo Pils, will soon be sold by the bottle as well.

Adam Firestone grew up in a wine-growing family, but he was always attracted to beer. From the beginning, he believed beer deserved the same care and connoisseurship that are lavished on the world of fermented grapes. He's one of California's craft-beer pioneers, and my recent visit to the brewery's tasting room confirmed that Firestone still has a place at the leading edge of the movement.

As Firestone employee Jason Schmidt led me through a selective tasting of the tap beers on offer that day, he explained the company's latest pride and joy, the Firestone Union brewing system. Inspired by a 19th-century British process called the Burton Union system, it uses 60-gallon, toasted American oak barrels to create beers of wonderful complexity and brightness.

I noticed there were no sour beers on the menu. They're served at Barrelworks, the brewery's tasting room in Buellton. Opened earlier this year, it's a showcase for Firestone's barrel-aged wild-yeast beers, which used to be served at the Paso location. "They're at a distance. We don't want those yeast strains to contaminate anything here," Schmidt said.

I started with the Pivo Pils. It's a testament to Pilsner's land of origin: The malt is from Germany and the hops are from Bavaria's Hallertau region. "I think this one's going to be as big as 805 once people find out about it," Schmidt said. Six-packs should hit local retailers by midyear.

The 805 is Firestone's flagship: a light yet satisfying ale that balances subtle sweetness with a slightly astringent finish, the interplay of California buckwheat honey and hops from Oregon's Willamette Valley. "This is the one that got my dad interested in craft beer," Schmidt said. "He was strictly a Miller kind of guy. He loves this one because it's refreshing, not heavy, and he can have more than one."

Though 805 and other brews are available in bottle form, the best way to enjoy Firestone's beers is out of the tap. That used to limit the company's possibilities of distribution, but in the past decade Firestone has made strides in assuring constant refrigeration from brewery to bar tap.

"Originally the rule was it (the destination) had to be no more than a day's drive from here," Schmidt said. "But it's spreading beyond that. Now you'll see us in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado. Texas just changed its distribution laws, so you can find us in Dallas and Austin. And we're in the bigger cities back east: New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, D.C."

I was attracted to the pretty deep amber color of UDBA, an unfiltered version of Firestone's popular double barrel ale. This one is brewed in the Firestone Union system, and it shows immediately: You can smell smoky oak on the nose.

"It goes straight into oak barrels for two or three weeks and picks up oaky, smoky vanilla, caramel and toffee flavors," Schmidt said. "We use American oak (barrels) with a medium to heavy toast. We're one of only two breweries in the world using this system at the moment." UDBA is popular locally with the grape geeks. "We've found that wine drinkers are drawn to this one because of the oak characteristics."

We moved on to more substantial brews, starting with Bravo, an imperial brown. At 13.5 percent alcohol by volume, it's definitely a one-and-done drink.

"It's the oldest barrel-aged beer that we make," Schmidt said. "We've been doing it since the beginning; it's kind of where our philosophy got started. It's not on draft very often." Smooth, honeyed and unctuous, it's full but not cloying, as some high-alcohol beers can be.

Next was the 2012 Double DBA, an imperial special bitter with 12 percent ABV. "This is essentially the big brother of the DBA," Schmidt said. "Twice the grains, twice the sugars, twice the alcohol, aging in Union barrels as well as bourbon barrels. You'll get a lot of toffee and it's on the sweet side for sure."

That's where I reached my limit. Craft beers will open up an entirely new universe of taste sensations for the uninitiated. But with alcohol levels that often exceed wine's, they're not always the brews you want to be bringing to a Super Bowl party – unless you plan to put everyone to sleep by halftime.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company brewed its first batch of beer using re-engineered wine-making equipment in 1996. The fledgling operation was housed on the Firestone Vineyard estate in the Santa Ynez Valley, but it expanded quickly. FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY
By 2001 Firestone's owners, Adam Firestone and David Walker, relocated to Paso Robles in an old brewery near the 101. It's now producing between 110,000 and 120,000 barrels a year, and Firestone's draft beers can be found in beer lovers' bars all over the country. FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY
Firestone's popular blonde ale, 805, is available in bottles, as are several other Firestone beers; its hoppy pilsner, Pivo Pils, will soon be sold by the bottle as well. FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY
Firestone has a restaurant in Paso Robles and a new taproom in Buellton. FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY
Firestone's brewing facilities are located on the south side of Paso Robles near the 101. FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY
Firestone is one of the oldest and most successful craft brewers in California. Its beers are available in many Western states and in large cities all across the country. FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY

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